If there's a positive that I can take out of a game like this, it's that I'm reallllllly happy that John Tavares is going to play for Team Canada next month. He's become so creative, and so smart, and is now tied for second in league scoring. Why now? Because he scored three points tonight. Why did he score three points tonight? Because the Toronto Maple Leafs allowed three or more goals. Two more, to be exact, as the Leafs dropped this one by a score of 5-3.

Well, the Olympic announcement is over and done with. No Maple Leafs made Team Canada, but that was probably to be expected. Beyond some late buzz for Jonathan Bernier there was never any for Dion Phaneuf and he's about as less offensive you could get as a choice among the skaters. A part of me would have liked to see James Reimer land the third spot, and I thought he might have had a shot had Bernier not taken the net away from him this year, but whatever. Most of the Leafs will get a couple of weeks off in February, while James van Riemsdyk, Phil Kessel and Nik Kulemin go off to represent their respective countries.

So that's done with, and it's time for NHL Hockey, and the least good of the three disappointing New York teams that came into the season with so many expectations they have yet to meet. The Islanders are in town, fresh off a smackdown of the Dallas Stars the previous night. This is a very winnable game for Toronto as the rested team facing a team on the road half of a back-to-back, and also a game they could probably manage to out-shoot the opposition.

What will happen? Will the Leafs win or lose? You will know the answer if you click "Read Article" and if you don't, your power will go out and you won't be able to watch the game. Better take no chances.

Canada finally announced their 2014 roster for the Sochi Olympics, and without a doubt the biggest surprise is Claude Giroux not making the team.

There are eleven returning players on the 25-man roster, but in my eyes Rick Nash continues to be the most overrated player in the NHL. Nash has had one 70-point season, and since the 2010 Olympics he has scored 185 points in 228 games, 25th most amongst Canadian-born players. In that same time span Marty St.Louis has scored the most points, 271, while Giroux is third with 255.

Randy Carlyle was running with some new defensive pairings today, and the new-look top pair, which will presumably be unveiled tomorrow night, is a familiar possibility to those of you that read here often:

I think Jake Gardiner and Morgan Rielly are excellent possession players and will succeed no matter who they're with. There's some evidence that both players have made their teammates better this season and we'll get to that down the road. The third pairing is a re-construction of last year's pair that led the league in PDO and Randy desperately wants to re-create. Unfortunately, injuries and lack of ability have really limited Mark Fraser this season and you get the feeling that every successive game is another potential "last as a Leaf".

But the first pairing is what I want to focus on. That's Tim Gleason in Carl Gunnarsson's familiar spot. Gunnarsson was knocked out of the game against New York and will have to be replaced by somebody. Looks like Gleason's the guy.